"Disturbing stuff. . . It's not shocked-shocked you feel watching this; it's genuine shock."- The New York Times

"It is hard to imagine a documentary that is more important to the civic life of the nation — let alone one that is so compelling and ultimately moving." - Baltimore Sun

by David Zurawik

HBO has already delivered the year's most powerful documentary in Spike Lee's soul-stirring chronicle of Katrina and its aftermath, “When the Levees Broke”. Tonight, the premium cable channel hits it out of the park again with “Hacking Democracy”, a timely and chilling look at alarming problems in the way our votes are counted. It is hard to imagine any network or cable channel offering a documentary this season that is more important to the civic life of the nation -- let alone one that is so compelling and ultimately moving.

10 Years After HBO’s Hacking Democracy, Electoral Vulnerabilities Still Exist

Mike Figueredo

Ten years have passed since HBO aired its Emmy-nominated documentary, Hacking Democracy. Though it was well-received by American audiences, electoral vulnerabilities, by and large, are still being shrugged off by public officials. The message of Hacking Democracy, however, wasn’t necessarily an outcry to Congress, nor did it overtly suggest a legislative solution was needed to ensure the integrity of the vote. Conversely, it conveyed an empowering message to citizens that they, alone, have the power to protect the integrity of democracy.

BY DOUG JOHNSON HATLEM

At the end of the climactic scene (8 minutes) in HBO’s Emmy nominated Hacking Democracy (2006), a Leon County, Florida Election official breaks down in tears. “There are people out there who are giving their lives just to try to make our elections secure,” she says. “And these vendors are lying and saying everything is alright.”

Hundreds of jurisdictions throughout the United States are using voting machines or vote tabulators that have flunked security tests.

BY FARHAD MANJOO

“When people see what is really going on, there is no way we will allow this to continue,” the crusading election-reform activist Bev Harris declares at the beginning of “Hacking Democracy,” a documentary film about the flawed American election system that premieres on HBO on Nov. 2. It’s a nice thought, one you want to believe: If only Americans could be made to understand the true, gut-sinking atrociousness of just about everything involved in U.S. elections — from the gerrymandered districts to the undemocratic distribution of electoral power to the enormous influence wielded by partisan officials to the underfunded, overwhelmed local offices to, finally, the insanely dangerous technology we use to run the whole thing — well, then, maybe folks would actually do something about the problem.

By Brad Friedman

I believe in full transparency. So allow me to disclose to you that I didn't come to "Hacking Democracy," HBO's new documentary on e-voting in America, with an unbiased perspective on the electronic voting machines that an unprecedented number of Americans will encounter at the polls in next week's general elections.

By Barney Gimbel

Here's a five-step plan guaranteed to make an obscure company absolutely notorious.

First get into a business you don't understand, selling to customers who barely understand it either. Then roll out your product without adequate testing. Don't hire enough skilled people. When people notice problems, deny, obfuscate and ignore. Finally, blame your critics when it all blows up in your face.

By Brooks Boliek

HBO fired back at Diebold Election Systems on Thursday, defending its documentary "Hacking Democracy" from accusations of shoddy filmmaking.

In a letter to Diebold president David Byrd, HBO contends that accusations of factual errors and unfairness are unwarranted (HR 11/1).

"You assert in your letter that the documentary contains 'significant factual errors'; however, based on several of the purported examples you have cited, you do not appear to have viewed the film which will premiere on HBO on Nov. 2,"